Twerps, Team Rocket and a Boating Contest
by mpspenguin
Summary: The TRio of Jessie, James and Meowth decide to try their luck at a boating contest, and Ash and co have the same idea; However, when the weather takes a turn for the worse, the two teams find themselves in a perilous situation, where an alliance may be their only chance- Forgive the summary, I know the accents are missing in this- please review if you can!
1. Chapter 1

Jessie, James and Meowth trudged along the dirt road that cut through the forest, exhausted after hours of walking. Sunlight filtered through the trees, dappled on the ground, and the bushes rustled with various wild Pokémon.

"Ugh! If we don't find some grub soon, I think I'm gonna faint!" Meowth exclaimed, looking down at his growling stomach.

"That makes two," James said miserably, leaning against a tree. "It's been days since we've had a proper meal!"

"Will you two quit whining?" Jessie snapped, putting her hands on her hips. "Complaining won't make you any less hungry. Look, there's bound to be a town nearby. Let's just keep going."

Meowth and James groaned as Jessie marched on in front of them, following her reluctantly.

"Imagine a big, juicy steak right now," Meowth said dreamily as he forced one leg in front of the other.

"Yeah," James agreed. "Or a massive bowl of ice cream."

The two sighed contentidly at the concoctions of their own minds as Jessie dragged her fingers down her face, exhaling through her nostrils angrily.

"Or a platter of smoked fish with chips and-"

"You're not helping!" Jessie screamed, swivelling around to face the two. "Just shut your mouths 'till we get to the next town, capiche?"

"Capiche," James and Meowth whimpered, cowering.

"Good."

As the trio of Rockets made their way up a gently sloping hill, the trees began to clear, and a stretch of grey buildings were visible in the near distance.

"Is that...?" James began.

"Civilisation!" Meowth cheered happily, racing down the path, the two humans close behind.

"Thank goodness!" Jessie said, relieved as they reached a noodle bar on the outskirts of the town.

"Uh, just one problem," James pointed out, prodding her on the shoulder and turning his pockets inside out. "We're broke."

* * *

"A boating contest!" Ash exclaimed happily, holding up a flyer for Brock and Dawn to see. "We should enter!"

"I don't know, Ash..." Dawn said nervously, studying the pictures on the flyer of enthusiastic people on small, wooden boats. "I get pretty seasick..."

"Aw, come on, Dawn! It'll be fun!"

"It does look interesting," Brock admitted, taking the flyer from Ash. "It says here that it's a race to collect all five flags of your team's colour, which are scattered around the sea. And, you can enter in teams of up to three people."

"Perfect! You, Dawn and I can team up, then!"

"Hold on," Dawn protested. "I don't know if I'm even up for this!"

"It's not far out at sea," Brock said reassuringly, "so the waves shouldn't be too big. But if you don't want to, me and Ash can always enter by ourselves."

Dawn pursed her lips in thought, and then smiled. "I'll give it a try. Who knows? Maybe I'll find my sea legs!"

Ash grinned. "Great! Where do we go to enter, Brock?"

"The pier," Brock said, and then frowned. "Oh, hold on..."

"What is it?" Dawn asked.

"The rules say that you can't bring any Pokémon with you."

"And why's that?" Ash demanded.

"Maybe it's so people with water types don't have an unfair advantage, or to keep the boat from sinking. That wouldn't be a problem, but what about Pikachu?"

"Hmm... Well, he's not going in his Poke Ball, that's for sure," Ash said, biting his lip. "Oh, I know! Pikachu can stay at the Pokecentre- the last time we saw the nurse Joy here, she said only to ask if we needed a favour, remember?" he asked, then looked down at Pikachu. "Would that be okay, buddy?"

"Pika- Pi!" Pikachu said, nodding.

Brock smiled, and looked at the street in front of them. "Alright, then. The Pokecentre is just around the corner- and that means nurse Joy is too!" he cried dramatically, sprinting down the pavement with hearts for eyes.

"Hey!" Dawn yelled after him, as she and Ash broke into a run. "Wait for us!"

* * *

"We can't buy food with no cash," Meowth grumbled miserably. "Unless that noodle bar's handing out grub for free."

"When has a lack of money ever been a problem for us before?" Jessie questioned impatiently as she eyed a customer tucking into a steaming pot of noodles. "We're Team Rocket, right? So, we steal."

"Not here we don't," James hissed, pointing to a cop standing nearby.

"Oh. Right."

The trio jumped as the cop spotted them, and raised an eyebrow. "Haven't I seen you three somewhere before?" he asked, his eyes scanning their uniforms. "You look... familiar."

"Um, well..." Jessie mumbled, racking her brains for an answer that wouldn't end in their arrest.

"We were on Wheel of Fortune," James blurted, grinning nervously and rubbing the back of his head.

The cop snapped his fingers. "That's right! You know, I've always wanted to go on that show," he said, smiling. "What's it like backstage?"

"Oh, er... pretty nice," Jessie replied.

"Yeah, they have awesome snacks," added James, shifting uncomfortably.

"I bet," the cop said, and then jumped as he realised something, checking his watch. "Crap! My break ended ten minutes ago!" he yelped. "Gotta go!"

The three Rockets sighed with relief as the brown haired cop dashed out of sight.

"I can't believe he actually bought that nonsense," James muttered, running his hand through his blue hair.

"Well, let's just be thankful that he did," Meowth said. "But there's still the matter of food..."

"The cop's gone, so I say we eat and make a run for it," Jessie suggested.

"After that close shave, I'm not really in a hurry to break the law," James said quietly.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Meowth countered, stretching.

As James was about to reply, something hit him in the face.

"ARGH! GET IT OFF!" he squealed, blinded by the object.

"Calm down, Jimmy. It's just a piece of paper," Meowth said, rolling his eyes.

James snatched the piece of paper off his face, and was about to throw it away when he noticed something advertised on it.

"First prize: a month's supply of fruit?" he read out loud, his green eyes widening as he skimmed over the page. Meowth and Jessie looked at him, confused as he broke into a wide smile.

"This might just fix our little food problem," James explained, holding up the flyer for them to see. "In the mood for a little boat trip?"

* * *

Nurse Joy greeted Ash and the others with a warm smile as they stepped into the Pokecentre, looking around.

"Welcome back!" she chirped in her usual cheery voice. "It's great to see you three again!"

"It's even greater to see you!" Brock declared, rushing over to the counter and taking her hands in his. "Your name describes what I feel whenever we meet; Joy! Your beauty is uncomparable to any other, your voice soft and sweeter than honey! But my words barely scratch the surface of my true feelings for y-"

Brock suddenly collapsed to the floor as Crogunk burst out of its pokeball, and jabbed him in the ribs.

"That, however, scratched pretty deep!" Brock managed to groan as Crogunk dragged him away by his leg.

"Okay..." nurse Joy said, sweatdropping. "What can I do for you?"

"We were about to go and sign up for the boating contest at the pier," Ash started, "but you can't bring any pokemon with you, so we were wondering if we could leave our pokeballs and Pikachu here."

"Of course!" nurse Joy beamed, producing a tray with moulds for the pokeballs to go into. "Just put your pokeballs in here, and I'll look after Pikachu."

* * *

"Here's the pier!" announced Meowth as they turned a corner. The three were in disguise as "The Treasure Chest Gang"; James and Meowth wore bandanas, shirts, buckled shoes and trousers that ended halfway down the calf, while Jessie sported an pirate hat (minus the skull and crossbones) as well as a long, blue coat and boots.

"Hello!" greeted a friendly looking man behind the stall for the boat contest. "Are you here for the competition?"

"Why of course!" Jessie said in a bad cockney accent. "We'd neva miss somethin' like this!"

"Boa'in''s our middle name!" James added enthusiastically.

The man smiled, and handed them a sign-up form. "It should be good fun. If you'd put your names right there," he said, producing a ball-point pen.

Jessie wrote "Jessibella", James printed "Jameson", and Meowth scrawled "Tony".

"Where the hell did you get Tony from?" James whispered in his normal voice to Meowth once they were out of earshot of the man.

"I don't know!" Meowth said, shrugging. "I've always fancied myself a Tony."

James shook his head, exasperated, and joined Jessie in the queue to leave pokeballs behind.

"We'd like to enter the boat contest, please!" a cheerful, familiar voice declared behind them, grabbing their attention. The disguised rockets looked behind them slowly to clarify who it was, and then snapped their heads back to the queue in front of them when they spotted Ash, Brock and Dawn.

"The twerps!" they hissed simultaneously, cursing their luck,

"Why do they follow us _everywhere_?" James moaned, taking a few steps as the line crept slowly forwards.

"Good thing we wore disguises, or they'd blow our cover for sure!" Meowth whispered.

"Won't they remember these costumes from the time we tried to get that treasure chest of mine off them?" James pointed out.

"Phh," Jessie said dismissively. "We only used the disguises for about ten seconds. They won't remember."

"Hi there! Are you entering the competition too?" Dawn asked, suddenly behind them. The three jumped, and then swivelled around, grinning anxiously.

"Certainly are, sure as water's water!" James replied in his false cockney accent, amazed that the twerps couldn't tell who they were.

"Us too!" Ash interjected, smiling as he offered them his hand. "My name's Ash!"

"It's a pleasure, I'm sure," James said weakly, reluctantly taking Ash's hand and shaking it. "Jameson's the name."

"Mine's Jessibella," Jessie said through gritted teeth as she shook Ash's hand, though she couldn't resist crushing it a little.

"Tony," Meowth said simply.

"That's quite a grip," Ash whimpered, cradling his hand when Jessie finally let go.

"I'm Dawn!"

"And my name's Brock!"

"We kno- I mean, wha' lovely names!" Jessie lied, nearly forgetting her false identity.

Realising they were at the front of the queue, Jessie and James emptied their pockets of pokeballs, placing them into the tray with their names on and turning back to the twerps.

"I guess we'll see you in the race, then," Brock said.

The six looked up as a young woman with green hair shouted for attention through a megaphone.

"The Boating Competition will commence in five minutes!" she announced, switching to the bored tone of someone repeating a speech for the upteenth time as heads turned towards her. "I'll go through the rules once- so listen up!

"Each team will be assigned a colour before the race begins. In your teams, you must then find five flags of that same colour, and bring them back here first to win! No pokemon are allowed on any of the teams, which cannot consist of more than three people. Any violence towards other boats or stealing of flags will result in disqualification. Flags will not be found further than a hundred metres out to sea, and this point is marked by a line of buoys. Do not cross this line to avoid getting lost.

"However, in the rare event that anyone _does_ get lost, a flare gun can be found underneath the seats of the boats, along with lifejackets. Only fire the gun in cases of extreme emergency. There is a first place prize, as well as two runner up prizes. Good luck, and have fun!"

The woman breathed out heavily as she finished, dropping the megaphone to the floor.

"Well, good luck!" James said to the twerps, and bolted over to the boats with his two comrades, disappearing into the swarm of people.

A man on a podium began assigning each of the teams a colour, calling out names from a list in his hand.

"Jessibella, Jameson and Tony?" he yelled eventually. Jessie put up her hand, and the man handed her a green ribbon.

"Alright, green it is!" she said, determination in her eyes. "We've got to win this- just think of all that fruit!"

"And if we lose?" Meowth asked.

"We _won't_," Jessie replied, glaring at him.

"Of course not. Silly me," Meowth muttered sarcastically as they climbed into a boat.

"Alright!" came the voice of the woman again. "Everyone ready? The race starts... Now!"


	2. Chapter 2

About five minutes into the competition, Ash, Brock and Dawn were flagless as the boat slowly made its way across the water. Nearly all the teams around them had found their first flag, and Ash was getting frustrated.

"C'mon," Ash whined. "There's gotta be a pink flag around here somewhere..."

"Over there!" Brock yelled, the boat swaying as he got up and pointed to his left.

"Alright! Then let's get going!" Ash whooped, picking up an oar and starting to turn the boat around.

Dawn was leaning over the side of the boat, her face pale green. "I... don't think I've found my sea legs quite yet," she groaned, retching as the boat climbed up and down the gentle waves.

Ash cheered as they reached the pink flag, which was attatched to a mini raft. He tore it off, holding it triumphantly in the air, striking a dramatic pose. "One down, four to go!"

Brock and Dawn sweatdropped at his enthusiasm, and began paddling forwards again.

"I wonder how the other teams are getting on," Brock pondered aloud.

* * *

"There! Green flag!" Jessie screamed excitedly, pointing in front of them.

"Are you sure it's not just seaweed again?" James enquired, unconvinced.

"No, dummy- look, it's on a little raft."

Looking up, James saw that she was right, and increased his pace with the oars, cutting through the deep blue water.

Jessie reached over to the flag, and snatched it, pulling it onto the boat. "We're a fifth of the way to a whole truckload of goodies!" she giggled, hugging the piece of green fabric. James and Meowth exchanged wary glances, putting down the oars temporarily to stretch.

"What's the hold up?" Jessie demanded, narrowing her eyes. "Get moving!"

"How come you don't have to row?" James complained, his arms aching as he mechanically moved the oars back and forth.

"Because _I'm_ cheif flag-spotter," Jessie reminded him, sitting down on one of the wooden benches and crossing her legs. "You wouldn't want me distracted, would you?" she asked menacingly, glaring at him.

"No," James grumbled with a sigh as the small boat bobbed up and down in the choppy water. "Of course I wouldn't."

"Good," Jessie said, folding her arms. "Then get moving!"

* * *

"And that makes three!" Ash exclaimed, picking up his third pink flag as the water lapped against the sides of the boat. "Just two left!"  
"I... feel... sick..." Dawn wheezed, having given up long ago to contribute to rowing or spotting flags, curled up on the wooden flooring of the boat.

"We'll find the other flags soon," Brock said soothingly as Dawn shuddered. "Then we can get you back on dry land, ok?"

"Ok," Dawn repeated, sounding far from it.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, catching Brock's attention. He looked up, and saw that the sky was layered with dark grey clouds. "I don't like the look of that..."

"I don't get it," Ash said, confused. "It was so nice when the race started!"

"Weather can be very unpredictable," Brock replied knowledgeably, "especially at sea. Maybe we should head back to the pier."

"Let's," Dawn agreed, hugging her knees.

"No way!" Ash cried, clenching his fists. "I'm gonna win this thing- a little bad weather isn't going to stop me!"

"Ash, I'm serious. A storm at sea can be very dangerous, you know. We could get carried away by the current!" Brock argued.

"Ash Ketchum is no quitter," Ash yelled over the deafening sounds of progressively bigger waves crashing onto the water. "We've only got two flags to go, anyway!"

Defeated, Brock picked up an oar, starting to row again as a bolt of lightning lit up the sky for a split second. "We'd better find them soon, or we could be in trouble."

* * *

Lightning burst through the clouds above the three Rockets, followed by a bang of thunder that seemed to shake the boat even more than it already was.

"Jess, this is crazy!" Meowth protested, another bolt of lightning briefly illuminating his terrified face. "Everyone else has gone back- look around!"

"Hmph. We're only missing one flag, cat! And to quote _Les Miserables_, a little rain won't hurt me now!"

"A _LITTLE_ rain?" James choked, guesturing around him. Drops of rain the size of grapes were drumming against the wooden base of the boat, slowly filling it with water. "Jessie, this is a full on storm! We'll drown if we don't turn back now!"

"Please, James. We all know you over-react to stuff like this. Once this shower passes, it'll be nice and sunny again. Just keep rowing, and that fruit is ours!"

James and Meowth jumped as lightning broke through the sky, barely a pause before it was followed by thunder so loud it made their ears pop.

"THIS IS MADNESS!" James screamed, as the boat was hurled backwards by a colossal wave. "WE'RE GOING TO DIE OUT HERE!"

"C'mon Jessie, let's get outta here!" Meowth pleaded, tugging at her sleeve. "Any flags left will be way under the water by now, anyway! This is pointless!"

The two male rockets looked on in despair as the boat was swept passed the line of buoys, signalling that they'd crossed the one huqndred metre boarderline.

"We're doomed!" James sobbed, struggling to keep a grip on the sides of the boat as it spun around uncontrollably. Meowth had managed to dig out the flare gun, and was pointing it at the sky when Jessie snatched it out of his paws.

"That's meant for extreme emergencies only," she quoted angrily.

"IF THIS AIN'T AN EXTREME EMERGENCY," Meowth screeched, "I DON'T WANNA KNOW WHAT IS!"

James clung onto the cat pokemon, shivering in his drenched disguise.

"Nice knowing you, old chum," he said fondly, sqeezing his eyes shut as an enormous wave towered above them.

"You too, Jimmy!"

Even Jessie looked scared by this point, and wrapped her arms around her teammates. "Prepare for trouble!" she managed to shout just as the wave broke, crashing down on the boat and pulling it underwater as the lightning lit up the sea once again.

* * *

Brock started to panic as an alarm sounded in the far distance, fighting hoplessly against the current with his oar.

"ASH!" he shrieked, loosing his cool. "We have to go back, NOW!"

Ash opened his mouth to protest, but, seeing the look of terror on Brock's usually calm face, nodded with a sigh.

"It is pretty rough out here," he admitted, a wave spraying them all with freezing water. Dawn was barely aware of the situation, trembling on the floor.

"Dawn!" Ash yelled, shaking her. "You have to help us, or we won't make it back!" Nodding slowly, Dawn pulled herself shakily up from the floor of the boat, steadying herself with an oar only to be knocked over again as the boat was thrown backwards by a wave.

"Lifejackets!" Brock shouted, fumbling underneath the seats and pulling out three bright yellow jackets. He tossed two of them to Ash and Dawn, and slipped the remaining one over his head, inflating it. Ash helped Dawn with her's first, and then let his fill with air, not even noticing that the flags they'd collected had washed into the sea.

"Use the gun!" Ash bellowed as raindrops pounded onto his face and head. Brock aimed the flare gun at the black sky that was flashing more and more regularly with lightning, and squeezed the trigger. The flare shot up into the sky, and exploded into a shower of red embers that wobbled down to the sea.

The boat jolted suddenly as it was flung into a large rock, and was shredded apart, throwing Ash, Dawn and Brock into the ice cold ocean.

Brock broke above the surface of the water, spitting out a lungful of saltwater, only to be pushed back under by the relentless waves. He swiped desperately at the floating planks of wood that, just a few seconds ago, made up the boat he had been standing on, and managed to grab hold of one.

He spluttered as he researfaced again, kicking his legs furiously in an attempt to stay above water as he clung onto the plank of wood keeping him afloat. "ASH! DAWN!" he screamed over the howling of the wind, the echoes of thunder and crashes of waves. No one replied.

_"Please be ok_," he thought as the current pulled him under again, and everything went black.

* * *

"Is everyone alright?" asked the woman, shouting through the megaphone to the terrified faces of the people huddled on the pier.

"Only a couple of injuries," her colleague informed her as a girl was carried on a stretcher into the back of an ambulance. "A broken wrist, and a gash where someone hit their head on a rock, but nothing life threatening."

The woman nodded, relieved. "Okay, everyone here?" she asked, and started to go through the names of all the contestants. "Lucy, Pablo, and Trixie?"

"Here!"

"Juan, Antonio and Luigi?"

"Over here!"

"Ash, Dawn and Brock?"

She began to check off their names, expecting a reply, but then stopped when none came. "Ash, Dawn and Brock?" she repeated, louder this time. "Crap. A team is missing!"

"Keep going, I'll look at the list at the end," her colleague instructed.

"Right. Jessibella, Jameson and Tony?"

Silence.

"Oh no," she muttered, looking over to the raging sea. "They can't all still be out there..."

"How many are missing?" asked her colleague nervously, biting his lip.

"Six."

He ran his fingers through his short blond hair, cursing under his breath. "Call the police. We'll need to send out a search party."

She nodded, hurridly pulling out her mobile, but knew as she dialled the three digit number with numb, trembling fingers, that it was probably far too late.


	3. Chapter 3

"Land! Dry land!" James cried happily as a stretch of sand came into view. His numb hands were clinging onto the oar he had managed to get hold of, and his legs ached with the effort of keeping himself above water for so long.

A wave carried him close to the shore, and he dragged himself out of the ocean and onto the soft white sand, kneeling down as he spat out a mouthful of seawater. He allowed himself a moment to bask in the fact that he was still alive, and then started scanning the sea for signs of his fellow Team Rocket members.

"Jessie? Meowth?" he called, cupping his hands around his mouth and walking parallel to the sea. The muscles in his legs felt like they were on fire, and after a few minutes, James gave in to the urge to sit down. As he picked seaweed off his shirt, James remembered that he was still in disguise as Jameson. "_Not that it matters now,"_ he thought, looking up at the clear sky as a group of bird pokemon flew overhead in a neat V.

His attention was caught by a small pale blob on the waves in the corner of his eye, and he got up, squinting as he tried to make out what it was.

"Meowth!" he cheered as he spotted the cat pokemon digging his claws into a square of wood, his coat drenched and dripping with water. James waded back into the water, took a few strokes forward and scooped up the wide-eyed pokemon, wincing as Meowth gripped onto his shoulders with his claws. Meowth jumped down as they reached land again, shaking off the water on his fur and shivering violently.

"Good ta s-see ya, Ji-immy," Meowth chattered, collapsing onto the beach.

"Ditto. I thought we were goners for sure when that wave hit us."

"Where do you think we are?" Meowth asked, looking around. "And where's Jess?"

James analysed his surroundings properly to try and answer Meowth's first question: they were on a huge, pale beach that stretched far across to both sides of them, and behind them stood a jungle. Coconut and banana trees were dotted around, casting shade onto the baking sand.

"I don't know," James answered, "and I haven't seen her since our boat was destroyed."

Meowth frowned, looking concerned. "We'd better start looking, then."

* * *

Dawn groaned as her eyes slowly flickered open, and then snapped shut again at the sight blinding sun.

"Where am I?" she asked out loud, pushing herself up. Pieces of boat were scattered on the beach around her, which seemed to be infinitely long, and only a few dozen metres behind her was a jungle, or something similar. "_Oh no,_" she thought, remembering the storm and the boat smashing into pieces as it hit the rock. Dawn looked down at herself- sand stuck to her dripping clothes and hair, she had a shallow cut running down her arm, and her yellow life jacket had deflated.

"Oh good, you're awake," came a voice behind her, making her jump.

"Brock!" she replied with relief as she saw who it was. "You're alright!"

Brock laughed awkwardly as she pulled him into a tight hug. "It's a miracle we made it after that storm," he noted when she finally let him go.

"Where's Ash?" Dawn asked suddenly, already fearing the worst.

"He's fine," Brock said reassuringly. "Ash insisted on going into the jungle to try and find someone. If he's not back soon, we'll go and look for him."

Nodding, Dawn looked out at the now peaceful sea. "I can't believe it. How did the storm hit so suddenly?"

"I don't know. Sailors tell tales of "flash storms", maybe it was one of those," Brock said, shrugging.

"Hey Dawn!"

Brock and Dawn turned towards the location of the voice, and saw Ash on the outskirts of the jungle, waving with one hand and holding some berries with the other. "You alright?"

"Better now we're on land again," Dawn shouted back as Ash started to walk towards them.

"It's a good thing we all washed up at the same place," Brock said once Ash had reached them. "I think we owe our lives to the lifejackets."

Dawn pulled the yellow jacket off, appreciating for the first time how hot it was. "It's scorching!" she remarked, sitting down on the baking sand. "At least we'll get nice tans while we're out here."

"Problem is, it gets freezing at night," Brock said, frowning. "So we should start building some kind of camp ASAP."

"No problem!" Ash said, smiling and clenching his fist. "I'll just get pikachu and the others to- oh," he trailed off, realising the flaw in his plan. "Right. No pokemon."

Brock started to collect the planks that had washed up, and turned to Ash and Dawn. "There seem to be more trees in that direction," he said, pointing further down the beach. "We can collect some fruit there, and make a camp under the trees. The jungle could have all sorts of wild pokemon in it, and I don't think we should rest there, since all our pokemon are back at the centre."

"Ok," Ash agreed, smiling. "Then let's get going!"

* * *

"Jessie?" Meowth called for what felt like the millionth time, and then sighed, letting his head drop. "It's useless. We'll never find her."

"C'mon, Meowth! It's _Team_ Rocket, right? We stick by each other, no matter what!" James reminded the cat. Despite his show of determination, he found that he was starting to think that maybe Meowth was right. They'd been searching for almost an hour, and James' throat was sore with the effort of shouting for so long.

"I'm not sayin' we should give up," Meowth reasoned. "Just that maybe we should wait 'til mornin' to-"

Meowth suddenly froze like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car, his pupils shrinking in his wide eyes.

"What is it?" James asked, lowering his voice. Meowth shakily outstretched his arm, and pointed to a cluster of palm trees. "Team twoip!" he hissed.

James raised an eyebrow as his eyes drifted to the spot Meowth was pointing to. Sure enough, Ash, Brock and Dawn were sitting in a circle underneath the palm trees, just visible in the distance.

"I guess they had a stubborn team mate too," James mused, stoking an imaginary beard. "Well, I suppose there's nothing to worry about since we're still in disguise," he pointed out, gesturing to the bandana on Meowth's head that, miraculously, had not fallen off at sea. "Besides, they won't have any pokemon with them. If anything, we have the upper hand."

"What are the chances, though?" Meowth grumbled as he trudged forwards. "They'll follow us to hell and back, I swear..."

"Hey, look guys! It's Jameson and Tony!" Dawn exclaimed to Ash and Brock as James and Meowth reached them. James took a nervous step backwards as Dawn rushed over to him, beaming as usual. "It's so good to see another person? What happened? Did you get caught in the storm too?"

"We, er..." James started in his cockney accent, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to think of an explanation. "Yes."

"Well, I'm glad you're both okay," Brock said, smiling.

James, seeing no point in keeping up the charade, turned around to Meowth and cupped his hand over the side of his mouth as he spoke. "We might as well have some fun with these twerps," he grinned, and walked behind a tight cluster of palm trees so he was out of sight. James then tore off the pirate costume to reveal his Team Rocket uniform, and stepped out in view of the three kids again.

"Twerps!" he yelped, faking surprise as he "spotted" them.

"Team Rocket!" they yelled back together. Ash clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.

"What are you doing here? And what did you do with Jameson?" he demanded, taking a step forwards.

"Oh, you mean that British pirate chap?" James asked innocently, biting his tongue to stop himself from laughing at the sincere expressions on the twerps' faces. "I think I saw him a moment ago... Hold on," James said, and jumped behind the trees again, changing back into the pirate costume with the speed of an expert.

"Jameson!" Dawn said as James came into view again. "Did you see James anywhere? Did he hurt you?"

"Who's this James fella?" James asked, his accent slipping. "You mean that devilishly handsome guy with excellent fashion taste?"

Meowth was clutching his sides and gasping for air as he rolled on the sand with laughter. "Stop it Jim, you're killing me!"

"All right," James grinned, and ripped off the disguise to show his Team Rocket uniform.

"You were Jameson?!" Ash choked, the thought clearly never having crossed his mind.

"Sure was," James chuckled in the cockney accent of Jameson, just to rub it in. "You twerps are _far_ too gullable when in comes to our disguises. We barely have to put a coat on and you have no idea who we are!"

"Very funny," Brock said sarcastically as James and Meowth high-fived, still giggling. He was silently annoyed at the fact that, yet again, they had fooled him.

"Why did you enter the contest in the first place?" Dawn questioned, narrowing her eyes. "I bet it was to steal pokemon, or something evil!"

James and Meowth held up their hands, looking, if anything, flattered.

"For once, twerpette, no," Meowth answered. "We just wanted to win the fruit legitimately."

Dawn frowned in thought for a few seconds, and then suddenly pointed accusingly at Meowth.

"You cheated!" she yelled triumphantly. "Pokemon weren't allowed in the contest!"

Meowth facepalmed, and sighed. "We're on a desert island, probably lost forever, and all you can think about is the fact that we let one little rule slide," he muttered, exasperated. "Besides," Meowth said, a little louder. "I hardly count as a pokemon! I walk, talk, and have no trainer. What's the harm in me entering?"

"Look, this isn't getting us anywhere," Brock said, eyeing the slowly sinking sun anxiously. "We should form an alliance. It's our best chance of survival."

"No way!" James, Meowth, Ash and Dawn protested at the same time.

"We need to find Jess," James said, crossing his arms. "And I don't need to add babysitting to my list of things to do. Right, Meowth?" he asked, turning to the cat pokemon and finding that he'd disappeared. "Um, Meowth?"

James scanned the area around him for signs of Meowth, and saw him rushing over to the shore. "Hey, wait up, cat!"

"It's Jess!" Meowth yelled back, freezing in his tracks as the end of a gentle wave lapped over his hind paw. "I'll, uh, leave the swimming to you, Jimmy."

James sprinted over to him, looked into the water, and saw Jessie floating face down in the ocean. He sighed heavily as, yet again, he dove into the icy water, his only just dried clothes immediately drenched again. James grabbed hold of Jessie, kicked against the current, and dragged her onto the damp shore. Panic overtook him as his now numb fingers fumbled over her neck for a pulse.

"Come on, Jessie..." he whispered, and then relaxed as he felt the steady beat of her pulse. Without warning, Jessie's blue eyes snapped open, and she sat upright, startling James.

"What happened?" she groaned, pressing her palm over the side of her throbbing temple. "Oh. Right. The storm."

Jessie cast a wary glance around her, and sighed as she saw Ash and the others. "Of course they're here. They always are," she mumbled to herself, her eye twitching slightly as she stood up. "All right, twerps," Jessie snarled, her energy returning as she threw off the disguise and squeezed water out of her hair. "Let's make one thing clear." Jessie picked up a piece of driftwood, and dragged it across the sand so it made a line between the rockets and the kids. "Your side, our side. Got it?"

"That's fine with me," Ash retorted, just as stubborn. "Just stay away from us until we get rescued."

"Fine."

"Fine."

Brock rolled his eyes at the childish display, and then started to gather up as many pieces of driftwood as he could, making a pile on the sand. "Dawn, have you checked your phone for signal?" he asked as Ash walked over to join them.

"Mine's missing," Dawn replied miserably, "and Ash's got destroyed at sea."

Sighing, Brock looked over at the Rockets, and then smiled at Ash and Dawn reassuringly. "We'll be fine," he chirped, to himself perhaps more so than the kids. "We've got wood, there's fruit, and we camp out all the time. Who knows? This might even be fun!"


	4. Chapter 4

About ten minutes later, "fun" was beginning to become the least likely word anyone would have used to describe the kids' current situation.

"ASH! Help me with the driftwood!" Dawn screamed. It had been about ten minutes since they'd started to set up a camp, and already things looked hopeless.

"My arms hurt," Ash whined, lying back on the sand.

"So do mine, but you don't see me complaining!" Dawn yelled back, furious at Ash's laziness. She turned to Brock, who was repeatedly scraping two rocks together over the pile of driftwood to try and light the fire. Sparks flew in every direction, but had no effect on the damp kindling.

"What's the problem, Brock?" she enquired impatiently. "We camp out all the time, and firestarting's never been a problem for you before!"

Brock wiped sweat off his brow and put down the rocks. "I've always had my Firestarter 3000, or at least a match!" he explained defensively. "And besides, this fuel's rubbish."

Ash glared at the three rockets, who were doing much better than they were. Jessie was relaxing by a roaring fire they'd taken mere seconds to set up, James was climbing the palm trees and picking coconuts while Meowth caught the ones he threw down and set them on a steadily growing pile of fruit.

"How come they're doing so much better than we are?" Ash complained. "They must have the better side of the island, or something." He stood up, walked over to the base of a palm tree and wrapped his arms around it, trying to copy James as he expertly shimmied up the tree (having had plenty of practice from countless escapes down drainpipes). Ash pulled himself up the tree a few inches, struggling to find a foothold, and fell backwards as his foot slipped, collapsing in the sand.

Meowth and James watched on with amusement, and cracked up as Ash fell for the upteempth time.

"They're pathetic!" Meowth sniggered as Dawn and Brock got into a heated argument about the fire. "I bet they've never had ta survive like this before."

"Yeah," James giggled, throwing down three coconuts to Meowth from the top of the tree. "For once, it looks like we have the upper hand!"

James pulled down one eyelid and stuck out his tongue as Ash glared at him, still trying in vain to climb the trees.  
"Grr," Ash growled, bunching up his fist. "If only I had Pikachu- those three would be sky high by now!"

* * *

As the afternoon progressed to evening, the sky a blur of pink and orange as the sun sank beneath the horizon, Ash, Dawn and Brock sat in a circle, studying the meager amount of food they'd collected. A few questionable berries Ash had picked from the outskirts of the jungle was pretty much all they had, and the pathetic flame Brock had managed to ignite was quickly fading.

"What are we going to do?" Dawn whispered as Ash's stomach growled loudly. "This could be serious if we don't get some food soon..." She eyed Team Rocket's supply of fruit hungrily.

"Hey- no way!" Ash protested when he saw what Dawn was looking at. "We're not giving them the satisfaction of asking for help! They'd probably just trick us, anyway!"

"I'm not so sure about these berries, Ash," Brock said weakly, holding one of the bright red berries up for inspection. "Are you sure they're alright to eat?"

"Of course I am!" Ash retorted, offended. "We eat these all the time back home!"

"Well, I think we should... store them, for the time being," Brock said carefully, not wanting to die of poison rather than hunger.

On the other side of the line, James, Jessie and Meowth were playing tic tac toe in the sand with a stick, feeling full for the first time in months. A roaring fire crackled in front of them, sparks occaisionally shooting into the air only to wobble back down to the ground.

"Looks like the twoips are having food problems," Meowth noted as he fed the fire a few pieces of wood.

"Phh. So what?" Jessie said dismissively, sketching a cross into the sand and winning the game. "Let 'em go hungry."

"We can't just let them starve, Jessie," James protested nervously as he drew a new grid. "I don't like them any more than you do, but letting them die? We couldn't do that. We're theives, yes, but not killers."

Sighing, Jessie folded her arms and looked over to the kids, who looked so pathetic even she felt a little sorry for them. "Fine. Give them some fruit, then," she said reluctantly, not quite believing she was helping them, but knowing that James was right. However much she hated the brats, she'd never wanted them dead.

James plucked a bunch of bananas from the pile of fruit they had gathered, and trudged over towards the twerps.

"Hey!" Ash yelled as James stepped over the line that divided the two teams. "Get lost! We had a deal, so stay on your own side!"

Ignoring Ash, James continued to walk, and stopped when he was a few metres away from the kids. "Fine," he said, tossing the fruit to Ash, who was unprepared and only just caught it. "Just thought you might need some food."

"Why are you helping us?" Dawn asked suspiciously, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well now," James said, brushing sand off his shirt. "If we let you die, we'd be out of a job. Who else would we steal from?"

Ash looked at the bananas, and popped a few berries into his mouth.

"What's wrong with them?" he questioned, chewing. "These bananas poisonous or something?"

"No," James said, smirking as he turned around. "But those berries are."

* * *

Jessie grinned nastily as Ash spat the mouthfull of berries out into the sea, and washed his mouth out with saltwater repeatedly. "Were those berries really poisonous?" she asked James as he sat down again.

"Yep. They won't kill him or anything, but I thought it'd spoil the fun if I mentioned that little detail," James said, smiling mischievously.

Jessie laughed, and then examined the sky. The sun had nearly disappeared, and the sky was fading from orange to dark blue. "What time is it?" she asked, sitting up and stretching.

"Um..." James said, pulling off his left glove and checking his wrist. "I don't have a watch," he realised.

Meowth chuckled, and stuck the twig they'd been to draw the tic tac toe grids upright into the sand so it cast a shadow. "There. We can tell the time using this _amazing_ sundial I just constructed."

After etching a few marks into the sand, the three rockets were able to deduce that it was about eight.

"It's far past your bed time, twerps!" Jessie yelled provocotively over to the kids who were attempting for the third time to get a decent fire going.

"Shut up Jessie!" came Dawn's voice.

"It get's freezing at night..." James stated quietly. "And those three can't build a fire to save their lives. Quite literally."

"So?" Jessie asked, and then frowned as she realised where James was going. "No. No! No no, no, no, _no_. We already gave them food! I'm _not_ having team twerp over at our camp!"

"If we can't let them starve, why can we let them freeze?" James reasoned. "Trust me, I don't want those brats over here either, but we should at least let them stay here tonight until we can teach them how to look after themselves!"

"Team vote," Jessie said, scowling at James as if he was a traitor. "I vote _**NO**_."

"I vote yes," James said, slightly disgusted at himself and his kind-hearted nature. "_You're meant to be a villain, James, dammit," _he thought, but didn't change his vote.

The two humans turned to Meowth, who was struggling to reach a decision. "On one hand," the cat pondered out loud, "if word ever got back to Team Rocket HQ that we saved our enemies lives, we'd be even more of a laughing stock, if dat's possible. On the other hand..." Meowth sighed heavily. "I don't feel like dealing with corpses in the morning. So... I vote yes."

Jessie glared at her two teamates, who cowered, hugging each other in fear.

"I can't believe you two," she snarled, playing with the idea of conjuring up her paper fan but dismissed the idea as she realised she just didn't have the energy. "Fine. Meowth, go get them then."

Meowth scurried off, glad of an excuse to get away from Jessie while she was still mad. "Hey, youse twoips!" he hollered as he reached the line drawn into the sand, cupping his paws around his mouth. "If you're interested, we have a real fire over here! Or, you can freeze. Don't bother me none," Meowth added quickly, not wanting to appear soft.

"It's a trick!" Ash announced to Dawn and Brock.

"What could they possibly want from us?" Brock pointed out. "We don't have any pokemon, food or money."

"I'm not spending the night with those low-life losers!" Dawn objected.

"Me neither!" Ash chimed in.

Sighing, Brock stood up, dusting off his trousers. "This is stupid. Just swallow your pride and let's go. We'll die otherwise, and I assume you aren't going to abandon Pikachu or Piplup like that?"

Ash and Dawn shifted uncomfortably.

"I guess... you're right," Dawn admitted eventually. Ash was far more reluctant, but, when Dawn and Brock started to leave without him, he quickly followed.

James, Jessie and Meowth looked up as the three kids sat down next to them.

"This does _not_ mean we're friends," Jessie reminded them defensively, shooting daggers at James and Meowth for agreeing to let them come over.

"Here here," Ash grumbled, but shifted closer to the fire as he realised how cold it was rapidly getting.

After an awkward silence, Brock made an attempt at conversation. "So... How come you guys _are_ doing so much better than we are?"

"Please, big twerp. We have to survive from nothing on most nights," James replied, poking at the fire with a stick.

"Yeah. We're experts at roughin' it," Meowth added. "Especially since our paychecks go directly to payin' off all that money we owe da boss..."

He trailed off, and silence fell again, only broken occaisionally by someone coughing or a wave lapping gently against the shore. Darkness had completely taken over the clear sky, billions of stars scattered across the shades of black and blue. The moon was almost full, and looked almost eerie with no clouds surrounding it. Light from the fire lit up the surrounding area, casting disfigured shadows that danced on the sand.

"I'm gonna hit the hay," Dawn announced eventually, feeling awkward as five pairs of eyes quickly turned to her. Ash mumbled something in agreement, lying down as close as he dared to the fire and pulling his jacket tight around himself. It was hard to believe that, just a couple of hours ago, it'd been so hot he'd found the idea of cooling off in the sea appealing. Now, all Ash wanted to do was find a hot spring and spend the rest of his life there.

James and Meowth whispered to each other for a while, talking about ways they might be able to get rescued without being recognised, but fell silent soon enough. Meowth, Ash, Brock and Jessie were all asleep within an hour, huddled around the fire that James was feeding, more out of boredom than concern it might go out.

"Can't sleep?" he whispered to Dawn when he noticed she was still awake. She thought about ignoring him, but shook her head instead, desperate to talk to someone- even if it was one of her enemies.

"I just can't get comfortable," she complained, gesturing to the sand around her. "I usually have at least a sleeping bag..."

James nodded sympathetically. "It took me ages to get used to sleeping on the ground when I first joined Team Rocket. When I lived with my parents, I had a king-sized bed, all the food I wanted, and money never even crossed my mind as something I'd ever be short of. So, it took a bit of adjusting to when I joined Team Rocket, to say the least."

"Ph. Serves you right," Dawn said half-heartedly, lying down again.

"It's not like I had a wide choice of careers at that stage!" James protested. "And need I remind you that if we hadn't been so generous, you'd be freezing right now?"

"Whatever," Dawn muttered, refusing to admit that she was thankful for the warmth.

James shook his head as he turned so his back was facing Dawn, starting to regret his choice to let them come over. "Ungrateful twerp," he murmured to himself, and let his heavy eyelids close, his thoughts quickly replaced with the nothingness of sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

"_Sir_?"

Giovanni sighed heavily at the voice that rang through the speaker on his desk, and lazily pressed the button on the machine to answer the call.

"What?" he demanded, annoyed at the disturbance.

"_My apologies, sir- it's just I have a report of two missing agents."_

"Cut to the chase. Who are they?"

"_Jessie and James, sir. Agents 0231 and 0582, along with their Meowth."_

Closing his eyes again, Giovanni crossed his over-priced black shoes on the desk in front of him, resting his hands behind his head. "Just replace them. Those two were a waste of my time, and our resources."

"_I would, of course, sir, it's just..."_

"It's just what?" Giovanni snapped impatiently.

"_It's just that Jessie and James were hugely in debt to you, sir. If we replace them, you won't have anyone to pay you back."_

"How much did they owe me?"

"_I'll send you the figures now, sir."_

A few moments later, the monitor on Giovanni's desk beeped, indicating that he'd received a new message. After a few clicks, he opened the message, and his eyes widened as they skimmed across the numbers.

"_Jeez_," Giovanni breathed, rubbing his brow and swinging his legs back under the desk. "How did it build up to that much?" he muttered to himself.

"_Of course, it's your decision, sir, but perhaps it'd be more profitable in the long run to find those three, so they can pay you back."_

Giovanni drummed his fingers on the wooden desk in thought for a few seconds in thought, and then leant in towards the speaker. "Very well," he said. "Locate the general area where they went missing, and send out a team of a few grunts to try and find them. If we don't find anything in a few days, however, withdraw any Team Rocket agents. I don't want to waste my time looking for those morons in vain."

"_Of course not sir. Understood."_

As the Rocket on the other side of the line disconnected, Giovanni sighed again, spinning around on his chair to face the huge window that covered one side of his office. He'd contemplated firing them for months now, but he didn't want his agents dead.

Looking out of the crystal clear glass and at his headquarters, Giovanni shook his head, absent-mindedly scratching his Persian between the ears.

Sometimes those three were more trouble than they were worth.

* * *

Ash yawned as he sat up, stretching his arms and taking a deep breath of air. A smile appeared on his face for a brief moment, but it quickly faded as his eyes came to rest on the sea, the sand and the trio of Rockets still soundly asleep around him. "How could I forget?" Ash grumbled quietly to himself, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

The smoking remains of the fire lay in front of him, now reduced to a few pieces of charred wood that sent smoke curling lazily up into the air. A little warmth still radiated from the remains, but it was nothing compared to the relentless heat of the rising sun. Ash pulled off his vest and wiped his brow, wondering how only a few hours ago he'd been longing for the warmth he now had excess of.

Brock was already up, sitting on a rock close to the point where the waves rolled gently onto the sand. His gaze was fixed on the vast ocean before him, which sparkled mesmerisingly in the bright sunlight.

"Morning," Ash said, trudging over to his friend, his shoes sinking several inches into the soft terrain with every step he took.

"Morning," Brock mumbled distractedly in reply, not turning around or making any kind of movement to show he acknowledged Ash's presence. Ash could tell that Brock was deep in thought, so rather than ask about breakfast or chat like he wanted to, he just sighed, and returned to the spot he had slept in.

A rough outline of his body was dented into the sand from the weight of him sleeping there; Ash smoothed out the shallow indentation with his hand, enjoying the feeling of the fine sand running between his fingers as he did so. When he was content that the sand was levelled out, he rested his hands on the ground behind him, and sighed impatiently as he looked over at Dawn, who was showing no signs of waking up at any point in the near future. Ash's head snapped back round to his female companion when she mumbled something in her sleep, but he quickly realised that she was far from awake, and resumed staring mindlessly at his shoes.

The heat of the sun combined with the lack of tasks to carry out was taking its toll on Ash, who, despite knowing he could be in serious trouble, was bored out of his mind. In the distance, the line between ground and sky blurred, creating the illusion of a stretch of water. Although Ash wasn't dehydrated thanks to the abundance of fruit Team Rocket had collected, he craved a proper drink, and had to remind himself several times that the pools in the distance were merely cruel delusions of the sun.

"Sleep well, twerp?"

Ash jumped at the sudden sound of Meowth's voice, and glared at the cat pokemon.

"Hmph. Fine, no thanks to you. You snore like a Snorlax," Ash said, still reluctant to accept the alliance he had been forced into.

"You're not excactly silent either, kid," Meowth replied, and then turned to his two sleeping team mates. "HEY! WAKE UP, YOUSE TWO!" he bellowed, and fury swiped Jessie and James across their faces. The two humans shot up, clutching their faces and groaning at the sudden burst of light from the sun.

"What was that for, Meowth?" James whimpered, his fingers tracing the claw marks that ran across his cheek and over the bridge of his nose. Meowth shrugged, grinning.

"I was bored of lettin' ya sleep, that's all."

Jessie scowled at Meowth, wishing she had a mirror to check the damage he'd done. "Stupid cat! A simple nudge would have sufficed!" she screamed.

"Not as fun, though," Meowth retorted cheekily, and then ducked as Jessie swung a punch at him. Ash watched as Jessie chased the pokemon around the beach, stunned at both the nasty way Meowth had woken up his companions despite the three being so close, and the fact that this was clearly a normal morning for the Rockets.

"Is it always like this with you three?" he asked James, who was trying his best to avoid any conflict.

"Pretty much. Meowth has a... painful sense of humour," James replied, choosing the adjective carefully as a gust of wind sent sharp stings along the fresh scratches on his skin.

All the comotion had dragged Dawn out of her peaceful slumber, who now blinked sleepily at the chaos in front of her.

"What...? Did I miss something?" she said, confused.

"Not much," Ash said, shaking his head slowly. "Just Team Rocket."

* * *

"We are _not_ grunts!" Cassidy seethed, narrowing her eyes at Wendy and holding up the letter she'd received. "It says right here: 'Grunt work'. _We_ are field agents! Go find someone else to rescue those pathetic excuses for Rockets."

Cassidy had been angry enough when she and Butch were assinged a mission to find Jessie and James- the two who were always causing them trouble- but to be referred to as 'grunts'... It was beyond insulting.

"I'm sorry, but I need some more reliable people than barely-qualified grunts for this mission. Giovanni has only given me a few days to find Jessie and James, and I intend to succeed," Wendy replied cooly.

"Why do you care about those three?" Butch asked curiously. "I never knew you were particularly close with them."

"I'm not," Wendy sighed, annoyed at the argumentative nature of the agents on the other side of the desk in front of her. "But Jessie is in my debt, and I'm not letting her disappear from the face of the earth until she's payed me back."

"Phh," Cassidy scoffed, smirking. "You're not still upset about that smoothie, are you?"

"She never payed me back!" Wendy snapped, ignoring Cassidy's amusement. "I refuse to let her get away with..." she trailed off, unable to think of a term for what Jessie had done.

"With two dollars fifty?" Butch suggested, sniggering.

"It's not about the money! It's just the gesture of her... Oh, never mind," Wendy sighed, shaking her head as she realised that Butch and Cassidy simply didn't get it. No one seemed to. "Look, will you do the mission or not?"

The two Rockets turned away from Wendy for a few moments, talking in whispers, and then swivelled back round to her, with smiles that came across as less than friendly.

"Our conditions are that, first of all and most importantly, you acknowledge that we _are not grunts, _but highly ranked field agents, and that secondly, our paychecks better be doubled this month," Cassidy told Wendy, Butch nodding in agreement.

"I chose you for this mission _because _of your superior performance compared to other agents, and if you do this mission I'll give you both a fifty percent increase on your paychecks this month," Wendy bargained.

"Eighty percent," Cassidy replied.

"Sixty percent," Wendy reasoned, desperate to get the two on the mission without dipping too far into Team Rocket's funds.

"Eighty five percent. I'd agree now if I were you- I'll just keep going higher until you say yes," Cassidy advised. "Or we just won't do the mission. There are plenty of others that are far more interesting..."

"Fine. Eighty five percent. Do we have a deal?" Wendy asked, wondering how she was going to explain to Giovanni the temporary raise she'd just given two agents.

Butch and Cassidy glanced at each other, smiling. "We do."

* * *

After everyone was up, James and Brock debated for a while who should cook breakfast, since within their own teams, they were both the usual chefs. However, they both ended up working on cooking some sort of meal, since, while Brock was more talented at making a gourmet feast out of next to nothing, James had more knowledge on preparing the foreign fruit, and knew what would and wouldn't kill them.

Meowth was busy pawing at the fish pokemon that ventured too close to land, not successful in catching anything since he hated putting anything other than his paw in the water, but content at just chasing them back into the sea. Chuckling, Jessie watched the cat pokemon pounce playfully at the shallowest of waves. While Meowth usually acted just like any other human she knew and hid his animilistic nature, sometimes he forgot to put up his defenses, and let his feline side out. In many ways, Jessie preferred the cat that now prowled about the beach, unaware that he was being viewed, but she wouldn't trade the annoying, selfish and infuriatingly intelligent Meowth that she usually travelled with for anything, despite her constant complaints. He had his flaws and more positive attributes, but more than anything, he was her team mate, and she'd grown very fond of the Brooklyn-accented cat pokemon.

"Hey Jess, Meowth!" James called from behind her, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Breakfast's ready! Oh, and you, twerps," he added, less enthusiastically. He and Brock had made a kind of fruit salad out of the various berries and other fruits they had available, using large leaves from the trees above as makeshift plates.

Dawn looked at the food, unsure of whether to insult it for being so crude because James had helped make it, or compliment it for being so resourceful because Brock had helped make it- she neither wanted to insult her friend nor compliment her enemy, so just smiled at Brock as he handed her a helping.

"Thanks," she said eventually when she was sure that this didn't suggest that she either liked or disliked the food resting on the leaf in her lap. Ash clearly wasn't concerned about how to react to the meal- he just tipped the contents of the leaf into his mouth, and swallowed hungrily after a few hurried chews.

"Mm- breakfast's great, Brock!" he grinned, helping himself to seconds.

"Glad to hear it," Brock replied, eating his at a considerably more sensible pace. "James helped too."

Ash distractedly made a noise in acknowledgement of this, clearly not really paying attention as he wolfed down his second helping.

Jessie, James and Meowth ate their portions in their own circle, purposely sitting a few metres away from the kids to establish the boundries that remained between the two teams. They might be allies for the moment, or even not actually enemies in general, but they fought on a day to day basis, and the Rockets intended to make it clear that this wasn't going to change if they ever got off the island.

"Sorry it's not more substantial," James apologised. "We had to make do."

"Phh! It's a lot better than no food at all, and that's what we usually wake up to!" Jessie reminded him, poking his protruding ribcage that was hidden beneath only his black undershirt- he'd ditched the white Team Rocket shirt he usually wore since it was so hot.

"Mediocre, at best," Meowth interrupted jokingly, taking on the character of a critic as he held a slice of fruit up to the sunlight for inspection. "The fruit's cut unevenly, it's served on a leaf and it doesn't satisfy the more refined and sofisticated palette of myself," he tutted. "And worst of all, a twerp helped make it!"

James laughed, and pretended to cuff Meowth around the back of the head. "Shut up, cat," he said, but only playfully. He was used to the provocotive banter that Meowth preferred to expressive or emotional conversations, which the cat usually referred to as "sentimental mush".

The blue-haired Rocket smiled as he looked around the island, and at the people he currently shared it with. James concluded as he watched Jessie and Meowth exchange bad jokes that, if help never came, and he spent the rest of his life here, there were worse companions to have.

* * *

**Author's note- For anyone who doesn't get the whole Wendy smoothie thing, she's on Bulbapedia, and appears in the episode Dues and Donts, if you're interested. Also, sorry if the ending for this chapter was sentimental mush. Meowth would disapprove. **


	6. Chapter 6

"You sure this is the right place?" Butch asked his partner, frowning at the unimpressive pier before him and scratching his head.

Cassidy shrugged. "It's where the boss said to go."

Giovanni hadn't given the pair more than directions to the harbour, instructing them to "be resourceful with their transport", which translated to "steal what you have to".

Horizontal planks layered the ground beneath them, supported above the shallow water by sturdy wooden struts. The area was deserted other than a couple of people casting lines out into the ocean with their legs hanging off the edge of the pier, fishing more for the enjoyment of it rather than the measely fruits of their labour.

"Ugh- why couldn't those two idiots get lost in a shopping centre instead of the middle of the ocean?" Butch complained. "I really need a burger."

His female team mate ignored him, and began to make her way towards the small wooden rowing boats bobbing at the edge of the water. Butch followed her hurridly, and, looking over both shoulders to check that no one was watching, stepped carefully into one of the boats. "If we get going now, we should make good progress by the end of the day," he said, picking up an oar and beginning to untie the boat from the pier. Noticing that Cassidy had gone, he put the paddle back down. "Uh, Cass?"

The revving of an engine made Butch jump, snapping his head to the left to see Cassidy driving a speedboat towards him slowly. She grinned, swerving to a halt . "This might get us there a little faster than that thing," she said, gesturing to the boat he was sitting in.

"Right," Butch replied, a little embarrassed at having not noticed the much more pratical speedboat, and climbed up to join his partner in crime.

* * *

Dawn raised an eyebrow as Ash started to pile pieces of driftwood onto the smouldering remains of the fire. "I doubt this is going to work," she said tiredly.

"Oh, come on," Ash scoffed, kicking the plank he had dropped further into the small flames. "When this thing gets going, the smoke'll be visible from a mile away! There must be a plane, or a boat, or _something_ that passes by this general area."

"Unless we're on uncharted land," Dawn countered. "I haven't seen a single vehicle since we got stuck on this stupid island."

"Well, sitting there doing nothing isn't exactly going to get us home any faster."

Sighing, Dawn pushed herself off the ground, the task more difficult than it usually would've been due to the scorching heat. "I guess you're right," she admitted, and began helping Ash work on the fire, though with less enthusiasm than her male companion.

Brock was getting worried. He, along with Ash and Dawn, had gotten lost more times than he could realistically count, that was undeniable, but something about the island they now inhabited was so desolate and unnerving- different from anywhere he'd ever been in the fifteen years of his life- that he couldn't shake the fear that they were lost for good this time. As Dawn had pointed out, he hadn't seen any planes fly overhead, even in the far distance, and he was fairly sure no boats had passed by, though the way the sun blurred the horizon made it hard to tell.

"Hey Brock!" Ash called to his left, breaking his train of thought and catching his attention. "You helping out or what?"

"Yeah, yeah," Brock murmured, smiling optimistically for the sake of the younger boy. "Just coming."

* * *

Officer Jenny frowned in concentration at the six pictures on the table in front of her, taking a big gulp of black coffee that burnt her throat. "These all of the missing people?" she questioned, setting her Growlithe mug back on its coaster.

"Yes ma'am. Only six were reported."

"Hmm," Jenny mumbled in acknowledgement, scratching her head and then, with some finality, closed the folder, obscuring the faces from view as she did so. "I want a whole search party sent out, ASAP. Tell them to scan any possible areas of the sea they could have drifted over to in the storm, and report back to the station if anything noteworthy is found." She sighed heavily, massaging her temple. "The police are getting enough hassle as it is- people complaining about us not doing our job. The last thing we need is the media screaming about six disappearances."

The younger officer in the doorway shifted uncomfortably, unsure of how to respond to this and waiting for some kind of dismissal. Jenny noticed his awkwardness, and waved a hand without turning to him. "You can go."

He nodded. "Thank you, ma'am."

As the door shut softly behind her, Jenny downed the rest of her coffee, kicking back the dregs, and spun around frustratedly on her office chair that had sponge bursting out of the sides. "_Ugh,"_ she thought, longing for the peaceful lack of events she so rarely got these days. "_Why can't people just go missing in the Kanto region?"_

* * *

"Oh, come on! You _must _have played the word association game before!"

Jessie and James looked at Meowth confusedly, shaking their heads. Meowth rolled his eyes, and shifted closer towards the two. "Okay," he started, exhaling. "So I say a word, and the person to my left- Jessie- says the first word dat comes into her head. So if I said... 'Meowth', she'd say..."

"Annoying," Jessie finished, grinning.

"And she'd lose the round, cause dose two words don't relate in any possible way," Meowth shot back, continuing the friendly joke. "'Handsome', or 'ferocious' would be acceptable words. Ya lose when ya can't think of a word, it doesn't relate or you use a word someone's already said."

"Okay, fine," James agreed, desperate for something to entertain his mind with. "You go first."

"Alright," Meowth smiled, and paused in thought for a moment before speaking. "Sand."

"Island," Jessie replied.

"Hell," James said.

Meowth hesitated. "Hot."

"Cold."

"Heaven."

"Umm..." Meowth trailed off, and then shook his head. "Yeah, yeah I know. I lost. Ok, Jess, you start."

"Boring," she said, and nodded at James, who replied: "This game."

"Dat's _two_ words!" Meowth exclaimed, shooting an accusing paw at the male Rocket. "And I can take a hint. We'll find something else to do."

"Ugh. Like what?" Jessie groaned, letting her back hit the sand so she was staring up at the cloudless sky. "Help the twerps with their little fire? C'mon, do they really think anyone's going to see smoke from that thing?"

"Well, don't tell 'em," Meowth smirked. "It's funny watching them run around."

They were quiet for a while, each member of the trio fading into their own thoughts as a gentle breeze swept over the sand, providing a much needed but only temporary drop in the temperature.

"Are you three just going to lie around all day?"

The Rockets, who had been relaxing on the sand with their eyes closed, looked up to see Dawn glaring at them, the beginning of a fire behind her.

"That was the plan," James said, closing his eyes again. Dawn felt her eye twitch at the remark, and clenched her hands.

"Look," she breathed, struggling to stop herself from screaming. "I don't like this... situation any more than you do. But we're stuck with each other, and I want to get back to society as soon as is humanly possible. So you can spend the rest of your lives here for all I care, but right now, you're going to help me build this STUPID FIRE!" Dawn seethed, her voice breaking into a shriek on the last two words. The three thieves were irritatingly unaffected by her speech, but sat up reluctantly all the same.

"Okay, _grandma_," Jessie yawned. "We're moving."

"Shame they don't have Pikachu," James noted as he traipsed over to the fire. "Maybe they could've blasted us off somewhere less desolate."

"With air conditioning," Meowth added.

"Speaking of Pokemon, do any of you have a Poké ball?" Brock interrupted, wondering if catching one of the wild Pokemon he'd seen in the water might help them get back.

"Jimmy's got an empty one," Meowth said, pointing at James who nodded in confirmation to the statement. He pulled the solitary capsule out of his trouser pocket, and held it out to Brock.

"Did you steal that?" Ash asked suspiciously.

"Ehh... More like borrowed... Permanently," James grinned, taking a nervous step backwards at the kids' accusing glares.

"I'm not using a stolen Poké ball!" Dawn said, her arms folded determinedly. "It's just wrong!"

"Hey- those things cost a few cents to make, and they get sold at several bucks a piece!" James protested. "The _companies_ are the real criminals!"

"Well, it's gonna be difficult catching a Pokémon when we don't have any to fight it with," Meowth noted. His smile faded under the stares of the five humans, who seemed to be waiting for him to realise something. "What?"

"It's not true that we don't have any Pokémon, _Meowth_," Jessie said, putting emphasis on the cat's name to try and help him get it.

"What do you... Oh." Meowth looked blankly ahead for a moment, as the fact that _he _was a Poékmon sunk in, and then sighed. "Fine. I'll help. But you all owe me big time."

"Let's finish the smoke signal for the moment," Brock suggested. "We might not even need to catch a Pokémon, but if we do decide to, we should make sure we go for the right one. I mean, we don't want to catch a Magikarp and then see a Gyarados later that would be ten times more useful."

"I hope you don't expect me to fight a Gyarados," Meowth said, half jokingly, half worriedly, and then added: "And we can always release the Pokémon if we see a better one, twoip."

Brock shrugged. "True."

The next hour or so was spent by the six inhabitants of the island either feeding the mostrous fire that sent thick grey smoke into the air, or lazing around on the beach eating fruit. The abundance of trees full of bananas or coconuts provided them with more than enough food, so hunger (at least) was one thing that could be dismissed as a potential problem. As predicted, no signs of human life anywhere nearby became apparent; the sky was clear of planes, the sea clear of boats, and the only smoke visible came from the fire they themselves had started. To add to the abandoned atmosphere of the island, even Pokémon seemed scarce, only a few Goldeen and Magikarp amongst the waves, and not a single creature on land had announced its presence to the five humans and one cat.

Meowth tried, for a while, to start a new round of the game he'd introduced earlier when the conversation ran dry, but no one was really listening to the rules, and it quickly became dull.

"Ugh. It's not even midday, and I already feel like killing myself," Jessie groaned. "You twerps are quite possibly the most _sickening _companions I've ever had the displeasure of being with. What are you even talking about? Pokémon friendship club or something?"

Ash, Brock and Dawn had in fact been discussing "all of the cool new Pokémon" they couldn't wait to meet on their journey, and what foods and breeding techniques would "suit each Pokémon's personality the best". This was just the kind of conversation that made both Jessie and Meowth feel like physically retching.

"Actually, we were talking about the foods that suit each Pokémon the best," Brock corrected irritably, crossing his arms. "It's one of the most important skills for trainers and breeders alike."

"Sounds like your Pokémon are just fussy," Jessie snorted dismissively. Normally, Brock would have been happy to get into a heated debate about the subject, it being one he was very passionate about, but he found that he just didn't have the energy to argue, so settled on muttering under his breath about why Jessie was wrong.

"Do you think our Pokémon will be okay, Brock?" Ash asked softly, finally voicing the concern that had been plaguing his mind for a while.

"I'm certain of it," Brock smiled. "We left them with Nurse Joy, and I can't think of many people I trust more than her. I'm sure they'll all be fine with her until we get back."

Ash nodded, feeling a little weight lift off his shoulders. "Yeah."

James suddenly felt queasy, and sat up sharply. "Jess?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you think they did with our Pokémon?"

"Probably gave them in to the Pokémon centre. They'll be fine, relax."

"Yeah, but..." James trailed off. He knew that Pokémon weren't just given away or abandoned if their owners went missing, but he couldn't help but feel guilty at having left his Poké balls in a cardboard box with some stranger. It seemed like something stupid the twerps would fall for in one of his and Jessie's elaborate schemes.

"Chill out, Jim," Meowth butted in, noticing James' worried expression. "It's not like anyone would want _your_ Pokémon anyway." The cat had poked fun at his team mate in an attempt to cheer him up, but if James heard the statement, he did a good job of pretending not to, his brow furrowed in concern.

Meowth sighed, smoothing out the sand around him in sheer boredom and trying to think of interesting anecdotes or jokes that weren't _too_ terrible to try and break the unbearable silence. He grinned as something came to mind. "Hey, Jess?"

"What?"

"Which Pokémon is low fat?"

"I don't know," Jessie said wearily, bracing for the punchline.

"Butterfree."

The five humans groaned in unison at the bad joke. "Well, you've really outdone yourself, Meowth," Jessie said, clapping sarcastically. "That was worse than the puns you usually dish out."

"Wait, wait," Meowth said enthusiastically, holding his paws up for silence. "Dere's more. Why wasn't the pig's bath warm enough?"

"I don't know."

"Because it was only- _Tepig_! You know, like tepid, but..." Meowth gave up trying to explain the joke as Ash pretended to fall over. "Aw, c'mon, dey weren't _dat_ bad. You should have heard the one I told Jim the other day about Diglett."

"I think my sense of humour and a few brain cells died while listening to that one," James recalled.

"Ahh- whatever. You guys are no fun."

* * *

"Day three," Butch gasped into the camera lense, breathing heavily and running a hand through his teal fringe. "It's not looking good. Supplies are low, and we haven't seen land since setting sail. I'm not sure if we'll make it back at this rate..."

"Quit messing around with that thing," Cassidy said, shaking her head in exasperation as her partner let out a dramatic sob before turning off the camera. Butch giggled at his own apocolyptic vlog-style joke, and then stretched out over the cushioned bench of the speedboat.

"Just bored, that's all."

Despite his claim, he and Cassidy had been at sea for exactly two hours; to say that supplies were running low was a stretch: Butch had a cola in one hand, and half a sandwich in the other, which he took cautious bites out of, not wanting to trigger sea sickness on the choppy waves.

"Well, find a less annoying way to entertain yourself," tutted Cassidy, but she couldn't help but smile at her partner's sense of humour. Running a finger over the crumpled map, she adjusted the position of the steering wheel, and pressed down a little on the accelerator with her foot. The novelty of driving up the bigger waves was beginning to wear off, but Cassidy still felt a little flutter in her stomach as the speedboat jumped into the air.

"Careful!" Butch complained as he knocked the cola can into his front teeth as the boat surged forwards.

"Sorry," Cassidy apologised sarcastically as she tore up another wave.

"Agh- hey!" yelled Butch, the fizzy drink soaking his shirt as he mis-timed a sip. "This is gonna take ages to dry!"

"Phh. We're at sea. You'll look like a drowned Meowth by the time we get there either way."

"Hmm," Butch grumbled, unconvinced. "Speaking of getting there, do you even know where we're going?"

Cassidy shifted a little, casting a wary eye to the map. "More or less... This map's not very useful. I mean, the whole sea's blue."

Butch groaned. "So we're lost?"

"No. We would be, but luckily this boat has some kind of GPS system on it. We've only been instructed to look for those two..." (She paused as she tried to think up a suitable insult to describe Jessie and James) "...Blundering morons. The most we know about their location is that they went missing around here- we don't know exactly where they are, but it must be uninhabited, or they'd've contacted someone by now."

"Unless they never washed up at all," Butch reasoned.

Cassidy shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. But if those three can survive falling from the stratosphere on a daily basis, I'd reckon they'll have found a way to cheat death again."

"You're probably right." Butch downed the rest of his cola before Cassidy had a chance to leap over another wave, and rested his chin on the side of the open boat. The clear sunlight sparkled on the deep blue water, not unlike the way stars blink in the sky at night, and a few long clouds sat just above the horizon in the distance. Someone more poetic might've proclaimed their wonder at the simple beauty of the surroundings; Butch's appreciation for the view only stretched as far to make him note: "Not bad weather today."

Cassidy didn't reply to his deep observation, just grunted in acknowledgement. Her arms were starting to ache from maintaining the grip on the steering wheel for so long, and her stomach growled quietly as if to point out the recent absence of food. "Botch, take the wheel for a while. I'm hungry."

"It's Butc-" Butch started, but stopped himself as Cassidy chuckled, realising she'd messed his name up on purpose. However many times she did that, he always seemed to fall for it. "Yeah, okay."

Taking a seat on the bench Butch had just risen from, Cassidy pulled back the tab on a can, and took a few long gulps before sitting the drink down next to her. "This better be worth double paychecks."

* * *

**Author's note:**

**Sorry this took _forever_ to update! I've just had a hectic month: a trip to Greece, work, and Mystery on The Albatross (my other story). Chapter 7 won't take so long, promise! Thanks for reading :)**


	7. Chapter 7

The police helicopter sent out by Officer Jenny as part of the search party hovered less than a metre from the surface of the ocean, the whirring blades sending circular ripples through the water. A few unlucky cops who'd been chosen for the mission sat glumly around the vehicle, half-heartedly scanning the water for signs of life.

"This is pointless," one of them said, feeling his stomach lurch as the chopper dipped forwards. "They've all probably drowned by now."

"Well, we can't tell the media that!" another officer pointed out. "The public want to hear about the police doing all they can, not that we've given up because they've "probably drowned". Humour the search for a few days, and then we can all go back to our jobs."

A female officer called Robin looked horrified at their conversation. "Am I the only one who actually wants to _find_ these people?" she asked irritably.

"No- I'd love to find them. Then I could go home and have a coffee."

Robin glared at the cop, uncharacteristically angry. "They're just kids," she growled, clenching her hands. "Do you even care if they're okay?"

The officer exchanged a wary glance with his colleague. "Of course I do. It's just... there's no point getting upset about it. It's very unlikely that they're even alive, and if they are, our chances of finding them in time is slim. I just think this whole mission is a massive waste of time."

Robin sighed, crossing her arms. "Maybe you're right. But we should still do our best."

The pilot spoke to the officers through their headsets, the sound of the blades overhead too loud for her to be heard otherwise: "Shall I gain some height and just look for land? Unless they're very good swimmers, we won't find anything in the sea other than corpses."

The officer next to Robin nodded, giving the pilot a thumbs up, and the chopper soared towards the clouds. He retched at the sudden movement, his ears popping at the rapid altitude change."How do I always end up with these jobs?"

* * *

After a few hours had passed since the smoke signal had been set up, even Ash seemed to be having doubts about its effectiveness on alerting someone of their presence. Perhaps it was early to be giving up hope, but the heat didn't help the moods of the six island-dwellers.

"We should go into the jungle," Ash said suddenly; everyone else turned wearily to him for an explanation. "I mean," he continued, sitting up and frowning at the waves, "for all we know, there could be a city on the other side of those trees. It's worth a try."

"Great plan," Jessie snorted. "Let's just blunder into the jungle full of wild Pokemon where we'll probably get lost. Why not?" she said sarcastically. "And the only Pokemon _we _have is Meowth. That isn't exactly comforting."

"Hey!" Meowth protested. "I could fury-swipe any Pokemon into the next century!"

"What about ghost types?" Brock pointed out. Meowth sighed.

"I know. I don't exactly have a wide range of moves."

"Well, we have a Pokeball, even if it is stolen," Dawn said, glaring at James, who grinned nervously. "Let's try our hand at finding a Pokemon Meowth could battle not too far into the jungle, and catching that. Then we'd have two Pokemon. It's probably our best shot."

No one said anything against this propostion, so Dawn took that as an agreement to her plan. "Alright. Should we try today, or wait until tomorrow?" she asked.

"Ugh- today," Meowth replied tiredly. "Might as well get it over an' done with."

They approached the jungle cautiously, jumping at the smallest rustle of leaves or gust of wind. Meowth was pushed in front of the group, as if he was going to protect them all somehow despite the fact that he had about as much experience battling other Pokemon himself as any of the humans did. The layers of foliage overhead provided a cooling shade, though the air was warm and humid.

"Scyth?"

Everyone yelled out in surprise, and snapped their heads around to see a Scyther glaring at them from behind a tree.

"Ooh- Meowth, get that one!" Jessie urged, pointing at the flying bug Pokemon.

"YOU KIDDIN'?" Meowth screeched, hiding behind James' leg. "I ain't fighting dat brute!"

"If you do, we'll have twice the Pokemon!" Brock encouraged.

"If I do, you'll have NO Pokemon, cause dat thing'll eat me alive!" Meowth corrected. The Scyther had watched the conversation with an amused expression, hissed something, and fled into the depths of the jungle before anyone could react further.

"Did it say something, Meowth?" asked James, shaking the cat from his leg.

"Somethin' like: 'Da day you win 'gainst me is da day Tepig fly'," Meowth grumbled, reluctantly moving forwards with the rest of the group. "Green little show-off..."

"Hey, maybe Meowth could just ask a Pokemon if it'd help us," Ash suggested. "If we told it our story, I'm sure it'd be reasonable."

Meowth snorted. "You clearly haven't met some of da cats I grew up with if you think all Pokemon are generous and kind-hearted, twerp," he scoffed. "But I'll give it a go if it might save me from a battle."

It was five minutes before they encountered another Pokemon that didn't immediately scurry away at the sight of the unlikely group: a small Spinarak that lowered itself to the human's head height on a string of silk with a curious expression. It had six yellow legs striped with singular black lines, a green body with a pattern on that resembled a face, red pincers and large, questioning black eyes. A white horn-like part rested on its forehead.

"Uh, hey," Meowth said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to think of the best way to pose the request. "So, um, me and my buddies here got washed up on this island, and we don't know how to get back. Dere any other humans on dis hunk of sand?"

The Spinarak hissed something in reply that meant nothing to the humans, but Meowth nodded as the spider Pokemon 'spoke'. He turned back to the rest of his companions once the Spinarak had finished. "She says dat dere hasn't been civilisation on dis island for ages. She don't know where we are in relation to de other regions, either." Meowth swiveled around to face the spider again. "Ya fancy helpin' us out?" he questioned unhopefully. The Pokemon clicked and hissed again in response.

"Well?" Jessie asked impatiently. "Is it in or out?"

Meowth looked defeated. "She's in- but she wants a battle foist." He looked pleadingly at the Spinarak. "Are you sure you don't wanna just skip dat part?"

"Ssssppp..."

The cat sighed heavily. "Nope. She's adamant- battle first, and then she'll see."

"Alright then," Brock nodded, and turned to Jessie and James. "Uh, which one of you is his trainer?"

Meowth scowled at Brock. "For your information, twoip, Meowth ain't got a trainer! I'm my own cat, capiche? Don't need some twoip tellin' me what to do!"

Brock held his palms up, smiling. "Okay, sorry. So you'll battle it by yourself?"

The cat shrugged. "I guess so." He stretched, tilting his head from side to side so his neck cracked, and worriedly took a step towards the Spinarak. "Wish me luck!" he told them, and braced himself as the spider Pokemon lunged forwards in attack.

* * *

Cassidy raised her eyebrows as her eyes came to rest on a disfigured, flat green blob bobbing on the horizon. Another mirage? No...

"Hey- land ahoy Butch!" she said, extending a finger to the direction of the land. Butch looked up from the map, and shrugged.

"They probably won't be there, but it's worth a shot," he mused tiredly as Cassidy pushed her foot down on the accelerator. Butch glanced over his shoulder at the sound of a low humming sound in the near distance; his eyes widened as he spotted the source of the noise, hoverring towards them.

"Cass," he hissed urgently, tugging at her sleeve.

"What?" she snapped irritably.

"The police!"

Cassidy swiveled around, eyes fixed on the police chopper heading their way, and cursed under her breath. "Just act normal," she told her partner, turning back to the wheel and resisting the urge to slam down on the pedal: she knew this'd just attract attention.

"But what if they recognise us?" Butch argued nervously. "There are wanted posters with our faces on plastered all over every region!"

"Well," she replied, exhaling and tapping the front panel of the speedboat, "then we just better hope this thing can outrun a helicopter."

The two kept their heads down as the chopper grew closer, its nose dipping towards the sea as it flew forwards. They both let out a sigh of relief as it passed overhead without stopping and continued onwards to the strip of land they themselves were heading for.

"Phew! Guess they didn't see the uniform," Butch breathed, relaxing a little and swinging his legs up onto the opposite bench. Cassidy grunted in response, and pulled back the tab on yet another can of cola. "Jeez it's hot," she complained, downing half the drink in a couple of gulps. "How come the climate's changed so suddenly? We've only been travelling for a few hours."

"Dunno," Butch admitted. "Maybe I'd be able to tell you if I'd paid attention in those Geography classes back at Pokemon Tech."

Cassidy snorted. "Don't remind me. That teacher could make anything seem suicide-provokingly dull."

Her partner smiled a little. "Maybe if we had had someone better, we'd wouldn't even be in Team Rocket. Maybe we'd've gone on to become professors or something."

"I somehow can't picture you in a labcoat teaching little kids about starter Pokemon," Cassidy laughed.

"You're probably right. This is a much more interesting career, anyway."

Ten minutes later, the speedboat swerved to a halt as its base hit the sand; Butch and Cassidy climbed out, anxious at the sight of the police helicopter parked not far away.

"You check the island out, and I'll stay here in case we need to make an emergency get away," Cassidy suggested. Butch nodded, too tired to protest. "Okay."

He trudged along the damp sand parallel to the sea, looking around for signs of civilisation. "Hey, anyone there?" he called, and then, remembering that the police were somewhere on the island, clamped a hand over his mouth, paranoia kicking in. Turning a corner, he folded his arms to try and cover the tell-tale red 'R' on his shirt in case he bumped into an officer, and-

"Oh."

Cassidy looked questioningly at Butch as he walked, a little stiffly, back towards the speedboat. "Well?" she asked. "Any signs of life?"

"Uh, yeah," Butch mumbled, bright red. "Whole beach full of people."

"What's the big deal? Why are you blushing?"

"Well..." Butch scratched his head, his cheeks burning. "I don't think they're big fans of clothes."

* * *

Sliding out his claws and gritting his teeth in what was supposed to look like a threatening pose, Meowth yelled and charged blindly forwards, his eyes closed in terror and his arms swiping wildly at not much in particular. The Spinarak clicked its pincers, tensed, and then shot a Poison Sting at the scratch-cat Pokemon. Thin purple lines cut through the air- they would have hit Meowth, but during his crazy swinging he narrowly dodged the move.

"Get it together, cat!" Jessie encouraged. Meowth was vaguely aware of Jessie's comment, and slowly opened his eyes, spinning dizzily to a halt. He sidestepped to avoid another line of Poison Stings, and, looking considerably more in control than he had done before, pounced forwards, claws raised. The Fury Swipe missed the Spinarak, but only closely, and Meowth was already growing more confident. "_Dis spider's a lot easier ta fight dan dat twerpy Pikachu, anyway," _he thought, catching his breath.

After another few minutes, the fight was still going, and neither Pokemon had significantly damaged the other. It looked like a fairly even match.

"Come on, Meowth!" James cheered, punching the air. Meowth waved his paw distractedly in response, and jumped fowards again; this time the blow hit the Spinarak directly, and it stumbled backwards. The cat had a few seconds to celebrate before the spider Pokemon bit him in the arm.

"Agh!" he screamed, and fell backwards onto the soft jungle ground as the Spinarak relaxed its jaw again. He moved his arm experimentally, frowning as he tried to assess the damage done. It wasn't poisoned, at least, or by now he would have felt the heavy poison running through his veins and into his system. He tried to get back on his feet, but the Spinarak pushed him back down, front legs raised menacingly, and hissed in triumph as it lunged downwards to bite again.

"Okay, okay!" Meowth yelled, sheilding his face. "No need ta kill me- you win!"

The Spinarak clicked its pincers questioningly, and reluctantly backed off.

"Thanks," Meowth said, wiping his brow and getting up again. "Now will ya help us?"

_"That wasss barely a fight," _she drawled in a language only Meowth understood.

"Yeah, well, it's the longest one I've been in before fainting," Meowth replied. "Come on, a deal's a deal! We need your help."

The spider shifted. "_You ssseeem pretty patthhhetic."_

"Which is why we could do with an experienced fighter such as yourself," Meowth smiled, trying his hand at flattery. All that battling couldn't be in vain. Spinarak hissed again, throwing in a few rasping noises, and the cat nodded knowingly, muttering in understanding as the spider spoke.

"She says she'll help, but she ain't sticking around after we're gone," Meowth translated. "She says you'll have ta release her after dat, or she'll make your lives miserable 'til ya do."

Brock chuckled, sliding his hands into his trouser pockets. "That seems fair."

"Hey James, where's that Poke Ball?" Jessie asked, turning to her partner, hands on hips. James dug around in his pockets for longer than you'd've thought necessary when they were empty bar the object he was searching for, and produced the red and white capsule. After enlarging it with a press of the button, he held it out gingerly towards the Spinarak, as if approaching a bomb that could go off at any second. He needn't have worried, though; the Spinarak jumped in willingly, shrinking into the Poke Ball in a flash of light. The capsule shuddered a few times, the button blinking, and then lay still with a small beep to confirm the capture. Ash fought every muscle in his body to stop himself from adapting a victory pose, reminding himself that he technically hadn't caught the Spinarak. "_Though I would've won the fight ten minutes ago if Pikachu was here,"_ he thought, a little sadly.

"Alright! We did it!" Dawn whooped, running over to the Poke Ball that now sat in James' hand.

"'We'?" Meowth questioned, raising an eyebrow as he thought of all the work he'd put into fighting, but let the comment slide.

"Great," Brock said, feeling his muscles relax now that the Spinarak had kept its side of the bargain. "It's probably too late to explore for any longer- we might get lost if we go much further, anyway."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, let's get going. I'm kinda hungry."

After re-tracing their tracks the best they could, the six (along with the newly-caught Spinarak) headed back to the beach. There was a brief moment of panic when the jungle seemed to go on forever, and Meowth suggested that they were lost for good, but this proved to be false when the jungle floor slowly faded back into sand and they were out on the open beach again, the air vaguely salty from the sea that swept across the terrain in shallow streams. No one had any bold suggestions or topics of conversation, so each little group went off by themselves, skimming stones, eating fruit or playing word games to try and keep themselves relatively sane.

James sat down, propping himself up on his elbows with his face to the sky, and withdrew the Poke Ball. His fingers ran over the chipped plastic etched with deep scratches that it'd collected in its short life with the Rocket. If he closed his eyes, and ignored the lack of marks that made his usual Poke Balls recognisable even from touch, he could convince himself that he was holding Carnivine's capsule, or Mime Jr.'s, or any of his Pokemon's. It was a pointless facade, James knew that, but it gave him a few seconds of calmness, even if at the back of his mind he was fully aware that he was pretending. The seperation from his Pokemon had affected him more than he'd readily admit to Jessie or Meowth, let alone the _twerps_. He refused to let them see him upset- really upset, not just throwing a tantrum over some trivial matter or losing a battle. If they knew he got sad and worried just like they did, the whole villain thing wouldn't be nearly as convincing. Heck, they'd be even less intimidated by him, and they didn't exactly tremble at the sight of James. Laugh, or roll their eyes were more accurate descriptions.

He frowned down at the Pokeball for a few seconds, running his thumb back and forth across the glossy plastic, and then opened it with his hand. White light flooded onto the sand, and when it faded, a slightly confused Spinarak was looking up at him.

"Sssssp?"

James rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, hey."

"Jim? What a' ya doin'?" Meowth asked, noticing the sudden appearence of the bug-type.

"Huh? Oh, I just thought we should get to know her," James replied, not really sure himself.

"Spiiiinaaarrr!" Spinarak squeaked, scuttling around in a circle for no apparent reason.

"Um, translation?" Jessie said, turning to Meowth.

"She wants to know what we're doin' here in da foist place," Meowth explained.

"Good question," James muttered, thinking back to the storm and Jessie's refusal to go back. Jessie gave Spinarak a brief explanation of what had happened, naturally twisting the story so that it was biased in Team Rocket's favour and making the twerps seem like gullable idiots (which was at least half true, admittedly). Meowth and James, wisely, chose not to comment on these inaccuracies, and let her finish the tale unitterupted.

"Spiiii," Spinarak said, blinking. James and Jessie turned to Meowth expectantly again.

"She says dat's unlucky."

"Phh," Jessie scoffed. "Understatement of the century, but thanks."

Spinarak spent the next ten minutes- with the help of Meowth's bilingual abilities- questioning the Rockets in detail about seemingly insignificant things, apparently very interested in human life and the way civilisation ran.

"Haven't you ever seen humans before?" Jessie asked, finding the Pokemon's curiosity a little amusing.

"She probably hasn't," Meowth nodded. "She's only young, after all, and she'll've spent her whole life on dis island." The spider hissed in confirmation to this, and then said something to Meowth, stepping forward a little. "Nah, don't worry," Meowth told her. "I know we're thieves mosta the time, but we ain't gonna trick ya. Got more important stuff ta be worrying about right now. You can go whenever ya want, but we could use da help for da moment if that's okay."

"_Sure," _Spinarak replied. "_A deal's a deal. But... You seem nice. What are you three doing in Club Spaceship, anyway?"_

"Team Rocket," Meowth corrected patiently, chuckling inwardly at the mistake. "And the answer to dat's three stories long. Three complicated stories."

Spinarak nodded slightly, knowing that Meowth probably wasn't tripping over himself to share said stories, and decided to leave the matter alone, for the time being at least. She could always interrogate them later.

* * *

Robin trudged glumly back over to the helicopter, annoyed by the cheerful officers following behind her. She felt like she was the only one taking the mission somewhat seriously: everyone else seemed to have reached a conclusion before setting out: the missing people were dead.

"Find anything?" the pilot asked her as Robin climbed back into the chopper.

"Yeah- it's populated. Whole town," Robin mumbled, taking a seat and crossing her arms. "So they can't have washed up here, or they'd've gotten help by now."

"Right. Thought so," the pilot replied, and, when all the other cops were safely on board, she switched the engine back on, taking off once the blades were spinning fast enough to lift the vehicle into the air. "Where next?"

"Uh, just keep heading forward," the officer next to Robin told the pilot. "We'll keep an eye out for land."

"Roger," the pilot grinned, adjusting her sunglasses so they sat further up the bridge of her nose.

Robin didn't mind the helicopter trip- though everyone else grumbled about it- in fact, if she hadn't been so depressed by everyone's attiude towards the mission, she would have found the whole journey exhilarating.

"How long are we out here again?" she asked the cops around her.

"Eh- few nights at the most," someone replied. "We'll stop at some city this evening- assuming we don't find them before then" (he said this somewhat sarcastically) "and spend the night at a hotel. Hey- how much did Jenny give us for accomodation?" he asked. The officer opposite him grinned.

"Enough for some five star place too classy for the likes of us," the cop said, producing a wad of cash from his pocket. "Jenny was so busy worrying about the mission that she just gave me the amount I suggested without questioning it."

"Nice! Reckon they'll have a jacuzzi?"

"Probably."

The officer smiled. "Sweet. Maybe this mission ain't so bad after all."

Robin couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of a luxurious hotel stay after all the stressful work she'd been set lately. It was making her more irritable and act out of character- usually, she was shy and reserved around her colleagues. Lately, all she'd felt like doing was yelling at them.

Another thing high on her list of things ruining her mood was the sound of the whirring helicopter blades. It was fine for the first few minutes, but after a few hours... Well, it became deafening, like a swarm of angry Beedrill hoverring constantly above her head, and it drove Robin a little mad considering her mind had little else to focus on other than the endless blue of the sea.

She smiled a little to herself, thinking of the eagerness she'd displayed throughout her training and most of her career. "_This is _not_ what I signed up for."_


End file.
